I’ve already given over $450 to Dead.net and still have yet to receive anything of value besides an “instant download of a dead.net graphic.” And yet I’m considering giving them more money! I’m beginning to wonder if this warehouse malarkey is just an elaborate Ponzi scheme I’m being suckered into.
OMG!!! It has arrived — UPS delivering on a Sunday!!! Now, where to start??? Grateful Dead — Pacific Northwest '73-'74: The Complete Recordings (#6150/15000) 1973-74/2016 Rhino Entertainment Company – R2 566110
I listened in reverse order and thought that was a really great way, my favourite show ended up being last that way, but it allowed to me really get into the other shows without overlooking them or contrasting them to the show I liked best, so I could really appreciate all the shows for what they were that way.
Oh those young, enthusiastic, sepia-toned days of Fall 2018...I'm a '73 maven, and will stack Denver & Winterland up against just about anything north of mid-'69, but listening to the respective Seattle show a few days ago I was decidedly disappointed at the generally spartan play; not a reason to avoid this monumental release, but perhaps the kind of honest self-reckoning earned by too many hours of unconventionally obsessive patronage. Funny, how planks in the Dead's unwritten cultural manifesto evince themselves in the most unconventional of popculture contexts: I was watching the movie "Polar Express" a couple day ago when one of Tom Hanks' characters - the locomotive engineer, appropriately enough - told the skeptical child protagonist, "One thing about trains: It doesn't matter where they’re going. What matters is deciding to get on." Seriously? Substitute "bus" for "trains". Then Hunter invaded my consciousness with a paranormal voice-over: "... in strangest of places if you look at right" and "wish I was a headlight...". Sometimes it's really too much. Coming home from errands tonight I looked square at the bank clock as it changed over to "6:26"; you can't credibly fabricate this stuff. Maybe I'll give Seattle Center '73 another listen before dawn.
You and I seem to have a similar connection to the material. Some of it warps us to new ground and some, not so much. Some more, not a chance. This is part and parcel of where I stand with the great band. When they nailed it, they nailed it far beyond any band in any idiom. When they didn't, well we have that too. For Seattle, 6/26/73, it's probably the most "oh by the way" show in the box. But it sure ain't short of good stuff. As a cliche, check out the long jam: He's Gone--> Truckin'--> The Other One--> Me and Bobby McGee--> The Other One--> Sugar Mag. Plenty to mine in there, but if it isn't hitting the spot, the other shows have more to offer. But a decent GoGD show is still better than a grate show from many bands of the era.
Summer shows are different than those in the late Autumn of the same year. 1973 in particular displays a strong evolutionary thrust through the year: the band changed as the PA morphed and grew, as Jerry got a pet Wolf, as the passing of Pigpen receded in time, as new material entered the rotation, and as the band itself found new inspiration in all of the above.
So, I started with the first show in the PNW box — Vancouver 22/06/73 . . . Wow, what a show!!! It's a long one (over 4 hours) but after a full run through and a bit, stand-out versions so far for me: Bird Song (beautiful, soaring), China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Here Comes Sunshine, Black Peter (best version I've heard yet), and the massive massive jam from He's Gone > Truckin' > The Other One > Wharf Rat > Sugar Magnolia. An epic show that is quite rightly hailed as one of the best of 1973. I can't see it getting much better, but I look forward to the next one in Portland 24/06/73!
For me, it was the '74 shows that moved up in my rankings from this box. I already loved the '73 shows.
I'll need to revisit them, because the first time around I didn't find the last two 1974 shows too exciting (and the first May 17, 1974 turned out to be marred by technical problems). However, all three 1973 sets are pure gold for me (well, the first is platinum!).
That was their excuse in May/June when I ordered my set !!! I think it arrived in late .july. How long does it take to move a warehouse? I tried to cancel and order from Rhino. They ship from the same warehouse.
Second show from the PNW box — Portland 24/06/73 . . . Not as good as Vancouver from two days earlier, nowhere near, in fact. It's a solid, if unspectacular show. Good, not great. I really love the fast They Love Each Other and China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider (is always good) from the 1st set. The 2nd set with that superb Dark Star > Eyes Of The World > China Doll is the undisputed highlight of the show though. Overall the show seems to lack something — it seems quite pedestrian, I don't know. What are everyone else's thoughts? Anyway, onto the next show — Seattle 26/03/73.
Better in many ways than any show I attended, and I started early '79 when K & D were still in the band.
After my first listen through (I did it in reverse order so ending with Vancouver '73) I was a little bit underwhelmed with the Portland and Seattle 1973 shows. I think I had my expectations set really high because of the (admitted minor) listening I had done to '73 and '74 before the set, I had much preferred 1973. In subsequent listens I have enjoyed those two shows much more than I did on the first run through.
Do we have an audiophile critique available for the sound quality and characteristics of the shows in the box? Some questions I have: Which show subjectively sounds the best? What are some flaws in the recordings and how does one navigate through those? Which show has the best sounding guitar tone of Jerry Garcia? Which show has the best performance? Which show has the best drum mix? Which show has Phil well situated in the mix? Which show has Keith sounding the best? Which show is Keith’s best performance? Which show would you use to demonstrate your room? Which show sounds the worst?
Probably none. If you're going to demonstrate your room with a two-track, use one of Betty's recordings from between June 1976 and July 1978. These 73/74 recordings are a bit rougher than that, but they document great music.
Third show from the PNW box — Seattle 26/06/73 . . . Another solid, if unspectacular show. Better than Portland 24/06/73 two days earlier IMO. Nice 1st set — Jack Straw, Deal, Loser, Playing In The Band, and probably the best Box Of Rain from the three '73 PNW shows. 2nd set is, again, where it's at. Bertha kicks it all off, They Love Each Other (I just love these fast versions), Black Peter (although not as good as Vancouver 22/06/73, which I mentioned was one the best versions I've ever heard), and I always love He's Gone. The highlight, as you probably all know is the mega-jamming Truckin' > The Other One > Me And Bobby McGee > The Other One > Sugar Magnolia at the end of the 2nd set — really great! I've also been enjoying DaP's 32 — Spectrum, 24/03/73 and Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 3: Denver '73 lately, which brings 1973 to a close. Onto 1974, the Wall of Sound, and from the PNW box, Vancouver 17/05/74 next . . .
Fourth show from the PNW box — Vancouver, 17/05/74 . . . A decent show with a 2nd set full of highlights, yet nowhere near as good as the previous year's Vancouver show (unsurprisingly). 1st set starts with a shocking Promised Land — WTF? I thought I had a defective disc with terrible sound drop outs. After the first song, the show does sound pretty good though — thanks to the Wall of Sound? There's some woman's bloodcurdling screaming (no, not Donna's ) at some point before a great Ramble On Rose — Keith's playing is really great here on this one (and throughout as usual). There's a Dire Wolf (!), a beautiful Row Jimmy, and a great Playing In The Band to close the 1st set. Money Money is heard for the first time in the 2nd set (all three performances are included in this boxset) — like many, I'm not the big a fan of this lyrically, but the music is some pretty slick rock 'n roll. From here until the end of the show, it's all really great. China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider — an astounding, all-time great version, surely? A solid Greatest Story Ever Told, a really nice Sugaree, then the big jam of Truckin' (despite missed lyrics ) > Nobody's Fault But Mine > Eyes Of The World > China Doll, and ending with Sugar Magnolia. A good show, but from what I've already heard and read, the next two are even better. Next stop, Portland 19/05/74 . . .
Just to warn you, there are missing vocals on three or four tracks on the 5/19/74 show. It's on the mastertape and there was no way to fix it. Also, I warned you to not start with the 6/22/73 show. It's not fair to compare the other shows with such an all-time great show.
